As parts of North America prepare for the solar eclipse, the Luminate team is getting ready for the arrival of our next cohort of brilliant startups. We’ll officially welcome the teams to our space in Rochester on April 8, the same day our city will experience totality. Talk about an incredible start! “Each company in cohort seven is bringing new capabilities to industry to change the way we solve pressing challenges, as well as new opportunities for the universities, supply chain partners, manufacturers, and investors here that are eager to collaborate in helping them advance their businesses and technologies,” said Dr. Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director of Luminate. Congratulations to all the startups joining us for the seventh round of Luminate! The ten selected startups and their solutions include: AI Optics, Inc. — Handheld imaging technology that integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide a new standard of care for disease screening, starting with preventing vision loss cureVision — Automatic, rapid 3D wound measurement, analysis, and reporting for hospitals, nursing homes, and ambulatory and home care Enlipsium — Advanced nanomaterials for future X-ray imaging devices, anti-counterfeiting, and self-cleaning coatings iLoF (Intelligent Lab on Fiber) — Non-invasive tracking, screening, and stratification for drug

There’s a new opportunity for early-stage companies with battery or energy storage innovations to connect with funding and support. Applications are now open for the inaugural cohort of ChargeUp, an accelerator powered by New Energy New York (NENY). Participants in the six-month hybrid accelerator program will receive $25,000, over 200 hours of curriculum designed to enhance investment-readiness, connections to resources in the federally designated Battery Tech Hub, and opportunities for follow-on investment, including up to $100,000 for technical development. Based on curriculum and learnings from two of NextCorps’ proven accelerators — Luminate and the NextCorps Manufacturing Accelerator — ChargeUp will follow a similar model and be run by Binghamton University’s Koffman Southern Tier Incubator. Our world is facing energy storage issues that are affecting almost every industry. Testing our proven accelerator methodologies within battery innovation to solve these pressing challenges, and doing so within a rich, industry-leading battery ecosystem makes perfect sense. We’re eager to support the ChargeUp accelerator and to assess the impact it has on improving success rates for bringing novel technologies to market.” – Dr. Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director, Luminate NY If you’re innovating anywhere in the battery and energy storage supply chain, apply to ChargeUp by

It’s hard to believe that Luminate is coming up on its seventh year! Each has been marked by growth in its own way — new connections, partnerships, and milestones that help us build on our reputation as an internationally sought-after accelerator. Here are just a few highlights from 2023: We were awarded funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch a new accelerator with Binghamton University’s Koffman Southern Tier Incubator for startups working on energy storage applications. The accelerator will harness proven curriculum from Luminate and NextCorps’ Manufacturing Accelerator, and we’re currently building our team to support the initiative. (Watch for applications to open in early January. If you’re innovating in battery and energy storage, we encourage you to apply!) We bolstered our Advisory Board with the addition of Dr. Thomas G. Brown, Director of the Institute of Optics; Paul Pickering, Managing Partner at Silicon Catalyst; Marc Tricard, Vice President & General Manager of Optical Solutions Business at MKS Instruments; and Edward White, the Governor’s selection on the New York State Photonics Board of Officers. We broke a personal record with the farthest-reaching Luminate Finals celebration yet, as virtual attendees hailed from 36 different countries! (Read the recap.)

The year may be winding down, but we’re gearing up for our next cohort. And while we’ve been lucky to meet and work with every founder and team within the Luminate portfolio — more than 60 companies now! — there’s just something auspicious about the round we’re coming up on. If you have a startup with a solution that’s enabled by optics, photonics, or imaging, apply to be part of cohort 7! Applications are due January 8, 2024. Not sure how Luminate can help your company or if you’re a fit? Ask a graduate! Our next info session on December 6 features four founders who were part of cohort 6, including our $1M follow-on funding recipient, Oculi. Sign up soon! Or speak with Luminate’s Director of Technology Integration, Dr. Damon Diehl. He’s hosting this year’s final info session and will share tips for a strong application on Thursday, January 4, 2024. 15 Luminate Companies to Attend Photonics West Are you headed to SPIE Photonics West 2024? Stop by booth 260 (located in the NY Corridor) to meet with members of the Luminate team and connect with companies in our portfolio. Tabling with us at Photonics West: Andluca Technologies AkknaTek Circle

NextCorps, the nonprofit administrator behind the Luminate accelerator, was recently awarded a $4.5 million innovation grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to test a replicable model for better supporting the needs of early-stage, deep-tech businesses. The model, called the Accelerator Ignition Program, will harness curriculum from Luminate and NextCorps’ Manufacturing Accelerator. “The early-stage time frame is when some of the most transformative innovations emerge, yet it’s also when startups are the most vulnerable,” said Dr. Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director, Luminate. “This acceleration model will give them a safe harbor, as well as the time and support needed to initiate their first profits and grow their businesses.” Read the announcement. Highlights from Luminate Finals 2023 In case you missed it, seven companies received investments at Luminate Finals 2023 last month. The Theater at Innovation Square in Downtown Rochester made the perfect venue for the big checks, confetti, and a thoughtful keynote conversation with Dr. Pulakesh Mukherjee on the changing investment landscape for deep tech innovations. More than 800 people joined the livestream of the startup pitches and award announcements from 36 different countries, making this the farthest-reaching Finals yet! If you joined us, thanks for being part of this

Something brilliant is coming to our handheld devices and waterways. Our clinics, research labs, and farms. Witness what’s in store on the stage in Downtown Rochester at Luminate Finals 2023! We’re just days away and we can’t wait to showcase the startups of Luminate’s cohort 6. Come to the event on September 27 and see for yourself how these trailblazers are tackling big challenges with novel technologies — from the world’s first digital eye test, to a quantum dot ink that can make smart devices last for 30 days on a single charge. Watch as we unveil the winners of $2 million in follow-on funding, including the grand prize of $1 million to Company of the Year. Plus, cast your vote live during the show (in person or online) to determine who goes home with the Audience Choice Award and $10,000 cash! Get your tickets to Luminate Finals 2023. Who Will Win Your Vote? Here’s the lineup of contenders and the brilliant inventions of Luminate’s cohort 6: AquaRealTime is advancing global water sustainability with its AlgaeTracker, a simple, scalable solution for critical early warning and monitoring of harmful algae blooms and pollutants in vast water assets. Digiteyez is delivering eyecare

It’s been awhile since we’ve shared an update with our Lens subscribers. Forgive us — we’ve been busy! Time to catch you up. Since our last edition, we selected and onboarded our latest cohort of startups – ten teams innovating in machine vision, quantum, healthcare, and other fields; plus two companies participating outside of the finalist structure to gain access to regional resources. (Miss the announcement? Get to know all the teams.) We expanded our Advisory Board, welcoming the expertise of: Dr. Thomas Brown, Director of the Institute of Optics Paul Pickering, Managing Partner at Silicon Catalyst Marc Tricard, Vice President and General Manager at MKS Instruments, and Ed White, Chairman of the National Photonics Initiative We also tabulated the impact Luminate has had since launching the accelerator in 2018. Jump to pages 10-13 of NextCorps’ 2022 Impact Report for Luminate highlights, stats, and stories. (There’s a lot more in there, too! The nonprofit behind Luminate has crushed the organizational goals set five years ago, serving more than 500 companies through its incubator, multiple accelerators, and other programs.) Lastly, we’re officially funded through cohort 9! Thank you to Empire State Development for continuing the support that makes Luminate possible. It’s

It’s been a year of growth, firsts, and in-person fun. (Finally!) Here are just a few of our 2022 highlights: We added the expertise of Finance Analyst, Anjali Boriya, and now can’t imagine the team without her. We officially secured funding from New York State for four more consecutive years. (Thank you, Governor Hochul, Finger Lakes Forward, and Empire State Development!) We were thrilled to be able to celebrate the culmination of cohort 5 IRL at Finals 2022, while reaching our startup teams’ fans around the world with the livestream. We had our first exits. Neurescence (Luminate cohort 2) was acquired by Bruker Corporation, and the team at Think Outside (cohort 3) is joining Mitta. We solidified a strategic partnership with Silicon Catalyst, the world’s only incubator focused on accelerating semiconductor solutions. Now we’re counting down to cohort 6. We’re looking forward to reviewing applications and seeing what amazing solutions will change the world next. Did you get your application in yet? There’s still time, but don’t delay. Applications are due by 11:59 PM EDT on Monday, January 9. Apply soon. If you still have questions about Luminate and whether it’s right for your company, check out our info sessions.

Last month, we announced the recipients of $2 million in follow-on funding at Luminate Finals 2022. Nearly 300 attendees joined us in person for the startup pitches and investment announcements, and hundreds more streamed the event from over 30 different countries. Miss the show? Catch the recording here. Lidrotec Named Company of the Year Bochum, Germany-based Lidrotec scored top honors and $1 million at Luminate Finals 2022 for its wafer-dicing laser technology that promises to help address the global chip shortage. Lidrotec’s solution enables thinner cuts with a virtually 0% damage rate, providing significant cost savings and productivity increases for the semiconductor industry. “Luminate provided us with a new network into the United States, along with contacts to suppliers and clients,” said Lidrotec CEO, Alexander Igelmann, in an interview with Photonics Media. “These vital connections will help us to meet our development milestones during the next two years, which include market validation for our novel laser technology.” Lidrotec’s progress against these milestones began last month with the company’s establishment of a U.S. entity. This year’s Outstanding Graduate Award and $500K in funding went to Custom Surgical, a medtech company from Munich, Germany that’s digitizing microscopes for earlier detection and diagnosis